Page 48 - What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours

the girls have found us out, though? I never projected strength. Not on purpose,

anyway.
“What are you really worrying about, Noor?”
He shuffled papers into his briefcase, rearranged his pens, straightened his tie.
“It just . . . I think I’ve lost them. Just like that, overnight. Their mother says
they’re fine with her . . .”
I loosened the knot of his tie a little, just a little. It still looked neat, so he
couldn’t complain.

“Nah. I don’t even know them as well as you do and I can tell they’re just
thinking.” A casual overview of all their main emotional attachments reveals that
Noor and his ex have been better parents than they realize; while Day and Aisha
appreciate strength, lack of it isn’t a deal breaker in the matter of whether they
respect a person or not.

—

ALL WAS QUIET on the Matyas Füst front for a few months; I kept an eye on that
situation (among others) and read that the reporters who managed to get a sound
bite out of Füst all got the same one. He was completing his anger management
therapy and was still preparing his apology. This sound bite was paired with
another obtained from YouTube woman: Looking forward to it.

It was around that time Ched and I started talking again—not often, but
enough. I’d be entering or leaving the House of Locks, the phone would ring,
and it would be Ched. He described his current existence as a cycle of drills and
chores, and was so tired he’d fall asleep mid-sentence. It was good to speak to
him, not just because it was him but because he didn’t know the first thing about
the incident that had rocked my household. When I gave him a brief outline he

said: “Oh, you know the apology Füst’s preparing is going to be a song, right?
And that song is going to become an anthem of repentance. It’s probably going
to be called ‘Dress Made of Needles.’”
“Nice—I’ll go down to the betting shop tomorrow.”
There was something else I wanted to talk about while I had him on the line.
When I answered his phone calls he needed half a second to adjust his greeting,
and it sounded as if he was disappointed that I was the one who’d answered.

Well, disappointed is too strong a word. It was more as if I wasn’t his first
preference. Which was fine, except that I’m the only other person who has keys
to his house. His mum’s been trying to get a set for years without success.
“So what’s going on? You met someone?”